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Before it was the Saskatchewan Federation of Teachers (STF) that both advocated and regulated educators.

President Pat Maze said the new board means the STF is no longer tasked with punishing its own members.

“The STF is, of course, in favour of removing any concerns about conflict of interest in the interest of protecting the public trust in the profession,” he said.

Cases of misconduct

There have been several recent high profile incidents of misconduct. Former teacher Jayson Kennard was sentenced to jail in May for luring a former student for sex.

Not all cases are as severe but it appears there are more disciplinary hearings than in the past.

The new board is now in charge of discipline, including removing a teacher’s certificate.

“It strengthens the public trust in the profession, it elevates the status of the profession,” said SPTRB CEO Trevor Smith. “It recognizes that the vast majority of teachers are hardworking and competent professionals.”

The board is made of seven teachers and two members of the public.

All Saskatchewan teachers are required to register with the SPTRB every year to maintain their certificates.

SASKATOON – One day after securing a majority government in Canada’s federal election, prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau said he would fulfil his promise of ordering an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

“I believe that there is a need for a national public inquiry to bring justice for the victims, healing for the families, and to put an end to this tragedy,” Trudeau said to reporters.

The statement covers one of many promises the Liberal leader made on the campaign trail regarding aboriginal issues that many Saskatchewan voters consider front and centre. Trudeau pledged millions of dollars toward First Nations education and full implementation of recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

WATCH: Liberal tidal wave doesn’t reach Saskatoon

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“Stephen Harper said no to the inquiry and I think it’s important that Trudeau keeps his promises,” said Dallas Fiddler, a University of Saskatchewan (U of S) student who voted this election.

U of S public policy expert Ken Coates said the real question regarding the incoming government is “how are they going to work with aboriginal people and will they do it in a different way?”

Coates said aboriginal governments need to play a key role in the decision making process on issues that affect their communities.

“If all ideas emanate out of the Aboriginal Affairs office in Ottawa and if the prime minister and his cabinet are making the decision, no real change has happened,” said Coates, a professor and research chair in the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

“It’s not about money; it’s not even about consultation … the real ultimate issue is about shifting decision making and resource allocation from the government of Canada to aboriginal governments.”

READ MORE: Conservatives show strong in Saskatchewan

One group who hopes to work in partnership with the incoming Trudeau government is the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC). Its chief said he’s optimistic about the new leader’s agenda, but worries not everyone in Ottawa will be on board.

“Its one thing for the government to want to do some things, but will the bureaucracy respond quick enough and as aggressively enough as the government wants them to do,” said STC Chief Felix Thomas.

“Good intentions are just that … What we want to do is work in a partnership to facilitate those good intentions to actually come to fruition.”

TORONTO – A 2013 note in which then-Liberal leadership contender Justin Trudeau predicted he would beat Prime Minister Stephen Harper is up for sale on eBay.

Michael Kydd was on Porter Airlines flight on March 20, 2013, and passed a note to Trudeau asking “Can you really beat Harper?”

Trudeau responded with a quote from his late father — former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau — “Just watch me.”

Trudeau, who was running for the Liberal leadership at the time, confirmed the note in a tweet on the same day saying, “Yup, it was me.”

@davidakin @SusanDelacourt Yup, it was me. Late night flight back on Porter from Halifax, escaping the storm.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 20, 2013

Bidding on the note — which had attracted a top bid of $2,550 by Wednesday evening — ends Thursday afternoon.

Trudeau’s father replied “Well, just watch me!” on Oct. 13, 1970, when asked by a reporter how far he would go in limiting civil liberties to combat separatist terrorists during the October Crisis.

Three days later, Pierre Elliott Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, giving police more power in response to the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross and Quebec provincial cabinet minister Pierre Laporte by the FLQ.

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SASKATOON – Mid-term season is a stressful time for any student, but those who play for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s soccer team have found that winning is a pretty good way to deal with that stress. The Huskies are 9-3 and riding a four-game winning streak heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

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“We have a really solid bond with the girls, so we kind of hold each other accountable for studying and whatever else off the field, and then on the field we just try to have as much fun as possible,” said midfielder Erica Hindmarsh.

2014 was a banner year for the program, with their bronze medal in Canada West the first of any colour for the team. This year, they’re hungry for more.

The Huskies began the season determined to prove that they belong in the conversation with the conference’s elite teams, and they’ve done just that, putting themselves in position to clinch first place in their division with a win this weekend. If they get that victory in Saturday’s contest against last-place Winnipeg, it will also allow the team to rest many of its starters in Sunday’s finale.

“It will be an opportunity for some of the players that haven’t maybe seen the pitch as much to get in and contribute to our team,” head coach Jerson Barandica-Hamilton said.

“Everyone is trying to train at their best and we need that to be at the next level.”

MORE: Latest news from Saskatchewan Huskies athletics

A deep roster has been one of the Huskies biggest assets this season. Their East Division-leading 28 goals have come from nine different players, eight of whom have scored at least twice. That balanced production will be key if the Dogs hope to improve on last season’s success.

“We really want to make it to nationals and show everyone what the U of S is all about,” said fifth-year defender Erica Parenteau.

It’s another test, but one the Huskies have been studying for all season.

EDMONTON – Minister of Health Sarah Hoffman has created a new board to govern Alberta Health Services with the goal to further stabilize Alberta’s health-care system.

The organization has been without a board since 2013.

“Stable and effective health care is of vital concern to every family in Alberta. This group has first-hand knowledge of health care delivery, governance and solid fiscal planning that is needed to strengthen and stabilize the health system in a prudent and sustainable way,” said Hoffman. “It will provide oversight that will ensure AHS is able to give patients the care they need from the right health care provider in the right place at the right time.”

Richard Dicerni, Deputy Minister of Executive Council, will also serve on the board. Dicerni has more than four decades of nationally-recognized experience in public sector governance.

Minister Hoffman is reaching out to other community leaders, including the Grand Chiefs of Treaties 6, 7, and 8, along with Métis representatives, to ensure indigenous representation for the AHS board.

Vickie Kaminski, CEO and president of Alberta Health Services, personally welcomed all board members in a Friday statement.

“Together, we will continue to focus on delivering Albertans the high-quality care they deserve.”

The board will report directly to the health minister.

The minister will work closely with the board to set objectives for and ensure the success of Alberta Health Services.

CALGARY 鈥?The family of three sisters killed in a central Alberta farming tragedy聽are attending a funeral for the girls in Red Deer on Friday.

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鈥淥n behalf of Roger, Bonita and Caleb, as well as the Bott and Pattison families, we thank you for coming today to honour and to celebrate the young, beautiful lives of these three girls–Catie, Jana and Dara–who were taken from us so early in their lives,鈥?said officiating pastor聽Brian Allan.

Sisters Catie, 13, Dara, 11, and Jana, 11, were playing on a truck loaded with canola at a rural property near Withrow, Alta. on Oct. 13 when they were buried by the seed.

Parents Roger and Bonita Bott spoke publicly about their loss at the Withrow Gospel Mission on Wednesday, saying they鈥檝e been humbled and encouraged by the support they鈥檝e received from the community.

READ MORE:聽鈥榃e鈥檒l see them again,鈥?Bott family says of 3 daughters killed on Alberta farm

The celebration of life took place聽at the聽CrossRoads Church in Red Deer Friday afternoon.

The funeral featured congregational singing, and a song called Humble, performed by Jessica Crane, one of the girls’ cousins.

“Catie and I, we wanted to write a song,” said Crane. “I loved Catie鈥檚 heart.聽She loved the parable of the sowers, the different kinds of soil…She wrote most of the concept and then I put the music to it.”

Amanda Bjorge, another cousin, explained family members were wearing matching crocheted headbands in memory of the girls.

“Each colour represents one of the girls,” said Bjorge. “Green was Catie鈥檚 favourite colour, purple was Jana鈥檚 and blue was Dara鈥檚.”

The five cousins then took turns describing Catie, Jana and Dara.

Cousin Brenda Church remembered Catie as having a “vibrant personality and insane amount of energy.”

Cousin Crystal Erikson spoke of Jana as a girl with “maturity beyond her years.”

“Her passions for games, crafts, sewing and farm animals, will never be forgotten. Everywhere we look, there are constant reminders of all the things that Jana poured her heart into.”

Jessica Crane spoke of her cousin, Dara, as embracing her individuality.

“Of all the girls, she was the tomboy. She loved to catch insects, play in the dirt, tear up the yard on the quad, and give any boy a run for their money.”

But as well as聽celebrating their differences, the sisters were remembered as a team.

“Whatever they did, they did together,” said Stephanie Crane.聽“Whether that was a family work project, family get-together or any kind of recreational activity, the ‘Bott-mobile’ was full of energetic and life-loving kids.”

The young cousins聽also emphasized their faith, and the role that played in the girls’ lives.

“The most memorable and important aspects of these three聽girls was their faith,” said Bjorge. “In every aspect of their lives, their relationship with Jesus Christ was evident. Even at an early age, when they could barely draw, each of the three聽would create illegible pieces of art with a specific person in mind.”

WATCH BELOW: The Bott family speaks for first time the since tragic death of their three daughters

OTTAWA – The annual pace of inflation slowed in September due to lower gasoline and other energy prices, but the cost of groceries, restaurant meals and many other things pushed higher.

Statistics Canada’s consumer price index for September rose 1.0 per cent compared with a year ago – a smaller increase than the 1.3 per cent posted in August and below the 1.1 per cent expected by economists.

TD Bank economist Brian DePratto said the dichotomy that has characterized inflation so far this year continued in September.

“At the same time, the significant depreciation of the Canadian dollar since last summer has made imports more expensive, helping keep core inflation (slightly) above the Bank of Canada’s two per cent target.”

READ MORE: Bank of Canada set to weigh in on economy, make key rate call

Prices were up in seven of the eight major categories, with the overall increase driven by higher food prices, Statistics Canada said.

The cost of food was up 3.5 per cent compared with a year ago, with fresh vegetables up 11.5 per cent and meat up 4.4 per cent. The price of food in restaurants climbed 2.7 per cent.

The index for recreation, education and reading was up 2.5 per cent, while the clothing and footwear category gained 1.2 per cent.

Only the transportation group, which includes gasoline, was lower as it fell 3.5 per cent from a year ago due to an 18.8 per cent decline in gasoline prices compared with last year.

The Bank of Canada’s core index, which excludes some of the most volatile components, was up 2.1 per cent from a year ago, matching economist estimates from Thomson Reuters.

However, the central bank has said the drop in the Canadian dollar has given a temporary boost to inflation and that the underlying rate remains below two per cent.

In its monetary policy report on Wednesday, the central bank said based on the assumption of a Canadian dollar at 76 cents US, it estimates the exchange rate pass-through will peak at 0.5 to 0.7 percentage points in the second half of this year before gradually fading through 2016.

The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate this week at 0.5 per cent as it downgraded its 2016 and 2017 outlook for the economy due to the continued fallout of low energy prices.

Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said the biggest problem is the disinflationary threat stemming from the real economy’s under-performance.

MORE: Complete coverage – plunging oil

“The economy may no longer be in recession, but it is still struggling to get back to potential growth,” Ashworth said.

“Unless there is a more pronounced pick-up that absorbs some of the economic slack built up over the past few years, core inflation will trend gradually lower.”

Statistics Canada says prices rose in eight provinces with Saskatchewan posting the largest increase with a gain of 1.4 per cent for the year. Ontario gained 0.9 per cent, while Quebec increases 1.0 per cent.

Prince Edward Island saw prices drop 0.8 per cent compared with a year ago, while Nova Scotia reported no change.

NEW YORK – Silicon Valley may think it can build a better car. But should it?

As tech giants like Google and Apple look to automobiles as the next frontier for innovation, they face a looming reality: Cars are a lot harder to manufacture and sell than smartphones.

Industry veterans and critics warn that the auto business is a different animal. It’s fraught with massive costs to erect auto plants, complexities in developing new sales and service systems, and daunting liabilities involved when human lives are at stake.

Automakers recalled a record 64 million vehicles in 2014, shattering the old record of 30.8 million set in 2004.

READ MORE: Apple aims to start producing cars by 2020, says report

General Motors Co. has had to pay $5.3 billion to cover fines, victim compensation and the recall of millions of vehicles for faulty ignition switches. Toyota Motor Corp. paid a $1.2 billion fine for failing to report safety defects, and Volkswagen Group has set aside $7.3 billion for the potential costs of its emissions scandal.

“I think, like so many Silicon Valley techies, that they believe they are smarter than the world’s automobile business, and that they will do it better,” said Bob Lutz, a retired General Motors vice chairman. “No way.”

He added that tech companies would pay the same high prices for expensive components such as electric car batteries, likely pushing retail prices of their vehicles out of reach for the average driver.

“It will be a huge money loser,” Lutz predicted.

To be sure, Google and Apple have plenty of cash to burn, with about $270 billion in the bank combined. But the challenges of the car industry may be steering them to find ways to revolutionize automotive technology without becoming actual automakers.

TRENTON, N.J. – Stepping into the uproar over eye-popping price spikes for old generic medicines, a maker of compounded drugs will begin selling $1 doses of Daraprim, whose price recently was jacked up to $750 per pill by Turing Pharmaceuticals.

“We are looking at all of these cases where the sole-source generic companies are jacking the price way up,” Baum said in an interview. “There’ll be many more of these” compounded drugs coming in the near future.

The high price of prescription medicines in the U.S. – from drugs for cancer and rare diseases that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year down to once-cheap generic drugs now costing many times their old price – has become a hot issue in the 2016 presidential race.

News that Turing, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and other drugmakers have bought rights to old, cheap medicines that are the only treatment for serious diseases and then hiked prices severalfold has angered patients. It’s triggered government investigations, politicians’ proposals to fight “price gouging,” heavy media scrutiny and a big slump in biotech stock prices.

At the eye of the storm is former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, head of Turing Pharmaceuticals, scorned last month for buying rights to and then increasing by more than 5,000 per cent the price of Daraprim, a 62-year old drug with no competition. The startup drugmaker paid Impax Laboratories $55 million in August for rights to Daraprim, which treats a rare parasitic infection called toxoplasmosis that mainly strikes pregnant women, cancer patients and AIDS patients.

Imprimis, which primarily makes compounded drugs to treat cataracts and urological conditions, will work with health insurers and prescription benefit managers in each state to make its new capsules and other compounded generic medicines widely available, Baum said.

“We’re geared up. We’re ready to go as soon as the orders come in,” he said.

Compounded drugs are typically made to fill a doctor’s prescription for an individual patient, sometimes because the mass-produced version is in short supply or completely unavailable and sometimes to allow for customized formulations or dosages. Compounders don’t need Food and Drug Administration approval to do that, unlike drugmakers making huge batches of drugs on complex production lines.

Baum said Imprimis will produce its pyrimethamine/leucovorin capsules, using bulk ingredients from manufacturing plants approved by the FDA, at its own facilities in Allen, Texas; Folcroft, Pennsylvania; Irvine, California, and Randolph, New Jersey.

Turing’s Shkreli, under fire from all sides, said late last month that he would lower the price of Daraprim, but hasn’t so far. A Turing spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday but recently noted the company is capping patient copayments at $10.

TROLLHATTAN, Sweden – Hundreds of people lit candles Friday in the yard of a Swedish school where police said a 21-year-old masked man with a sword and a knife went on a rampage a day earlier, stabbing two to death and seriously wounding two others before being shot by police.

Police described the Thursday attack as a carefully organized, racist hate crime by a young man who methodically selected his victims in Trollhattan’s Kronan school, where most of the students are foreign-born.

The Scandinavian nation of 10 million, known for its welcoming attitude toward migrants, was shocked by the violence in the southern industrial town near Sweden’s second largest city, Goteborg.

“This is a black day for Sweden,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said of the country’s deadliest school attack. “It is a tragedy that hits the entire country.”

Although violent crime is relatively rare in Sweden, there has been a spate of arson attacks on asylum centres in recent weeks as an influx of refugees has surged. Immigration officials estimate some 190,000 asylum-seekers will arrive this year, second only to Germany in Western Europe.

Nour Shilbaya, an 18-year-old former student at the school, took part in the candlelight vigil.

“I’ve been living here my whole life. It feels so hard to see all of this happening because it feels like a movie,” she said. “You can’t imagine that it is real.”

Handwritten signs in Swedish, Arabic and Persian stuck on windows and doors urged people to respect those who visited to pay their respects throughout the day.

Police investigator Thord Haraldsson told reporters that school surveillance video showed how the attacker roamed through the school with a sword and a sharp knife, selecting victims who were all “dark-skinned.”

Evidence appears to indicate he acted alone, Haraldsson said, adding that police found “a kind of suicide note” in his apartment. They said the assailant had considered the attack his final act.

The sword’s sheath was found inside a car parked near the school, Haraldsson said.

None of the victims has been identified by authorities, but local media cited relatives as saying those who died were 20-year-old Lavin Eskandar, a mentor at the school, and Ahmed Hassan, a 15-year-old student.

Before the candlelight vigil, a few hundred people held an anti-racism protest outside the school, some carrying banners with the words “No to racism, no to hatred” and “Why?”

“We do not have all the facts yet, but we know innocent people have died. Maybe because of the distorted debate in the society,” Imam Abdi Rizak Wabari said during Friday prayers at a nearby mosque.

Once Sweden’s busiest industrial city, a centre for heavy industries and car production, Trollhattan has been struggling with unemployment for years. It now has Sweden’s highest jobless rate — 14.1 per cent in 2014 compared to 8 per cent for the whole country. In addition, the city’s rate of people with higher education is 20.9 per cent, below the national average of 25.1 per cent.

“This is a quiet place. A very nice place to live. It is not a racist place,” said Abdul Asiz Kassim, a 37-year-old Somali translator who came to Sweden 23 years ago. “What happened here yesterday … nobody can stop.

“Just like in Norway with (Anders Behring) Breivik. People get crazy ideas from the Internet,” Kassim said, referring to the anti-Muslim extremist who killed 77 people in a bombing and gun rampage in Norway in 2011.

Surveillance videos authenticated by police show the assailant posed for photos with some students before beginning his deadly rampage. Several students thought the attacker was playing a Halloween prank.

Police said he entered the school through a cafe in its lobby that is open to the public. He stabbed two victims, then knocked on two classroom doors and stabbed two more victims.

Mohammed, who declined to give his last name, recalled how a classmate was stabbed when he opened the door to the attacker, whom he described as a man with “a Star Wars mask and a really big sword.”

“We all still thought it was a joke, Halloween and all. But then he lifted his shirt and his intestines were hanging out,” he told The Associated Press. “That’s when it became serious, we all panicked. We all started screaming.”

Panicked students fled the school as police and ambulances rushed in. Authorities found a dead male teacher and three people seriously wounded — two boys and another male teacher. All the wounded had surgery but one of the students later died.

Hospital officials said that the other wounded student’s condition had improved Friday and was considered stable, while a 41-year-old teacher was in “serious but stable” condition.

Sweden’s last school attack was in 1961, when a 17-year-old opened fire at a school dance in the southwest, wounding seven students, one of whom died later.

____

Jona Kallgren in Trollhattan and Jan M.Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this reprt.

TORONTO – Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. is yet again on high alert after police were notified Thursday of a Snapchat post threatening the school’s science building.

Waterloo Regional Police contacted the university Thursday evening after an image of a man holding what investigators have determined to be a replica weapon appeared on the popular social networking app Snapchat.

Looking to identify male who posted message on SnapChat @LaurierNews If you know him, call us 519-653-7700 #6399 pic.twitter老域名购买/UWbhkWCl6t

— Waterloo Reg. Police (@WRPSToday) October 23, 2015

“A caption referenced ‘the science building,’ and a number of related Snapchat images suggested that the individual making the post was familiar with Laurier’s Waterloo campus,” said police in a media release.

The university’s Special Constable Services was alerted and a security sweep was conducted throughout the building Thursday night, but no danger was found.

Although police said the investigation into the Snapchat post is ongoing, authorities have determined that there is no immediate threat to students and faculty at Laurier.

Authorities are investigating online posting: https://t.co/CKZ4ptWMAc There is no immediate danger & the university remains open

— WilfridLaurierUNews (@LaurierNews) October 23, 2015

The investigation into the source of the alleged threat comes just one week after a London, England man was arrested for allegedly making a menacing post on an internet forum that forced the university into lockdown last Friday.

While the school remains open Friday, police said security has been stepped up on campus with additional officers patrolling the area.

“It is unfortunate we have individuals in this community who appear to delight in attempts to intimidate others around them,” said Waterloo Reginal Police Service Chief Bryan Larkin in a media release.

“Know that the Waterloo Regional Police are working diligently to identify the person(s) responsible for this post and lay charges as warranted. The safety of our academic institutions is of paramount importance to our police service.”

Daniel Ransem, 22, was charged with malicious communications in the online threat last Friday and told media the post was meant as a joke.

The accused has since been released on bail and is due back in court in January.

VIDEO: A lockdown of Wilfrid Laurier University was announced early Friday but was lifted before lunch time. Lama Nicolas reports.